Friday, August 28, 2009

ReBuilders Source is a place down in the South Bronx on 461 Timpson Place (Mott Haven/Woodstock) that is a workers' cooperative that helps to reuse building materials in cool, creative, and environmentally safe ways. RBS's goal is to divert tons of perfectly good building materials from the landfill. There's a great explanatory video on their website (scroll down after the jump).

You can get cabinets, granite, lamp shades, paint, lumber, whatever.

Their stock is constantly changing because of the nature of the rehab and buildng biz.

If you're thinking of renovating something in your apartment or house you should really give this place a look. The prices are much lower than at Home Depot or Lowes. And it sounds like a pretty fun place from Gloria's testimonial:

The staff is super cool and super friendly! Upon arrival my partner and I got a personal tour of the space, what was available and then we were left free to roam on our own. We were also treated to a game of "bowling" - a staffer lined up a few bowling pins and we were given a pin in our hands and allowed to throw the pin a few feet to try and knock down the other pins lol.

After speaking to the staffer that arranged for the bowing game, I learned they are trying to get the word out to contractors, companies, schools, and the general public so they could get more traffic in the place...meaning more product in and more folks taking advantage. They're a year young but soon enough, I really do think they'll be chock full of folks.